Bringing Family Law Expertise to SCOTX | Justice Debra Lehrmann | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Potential Changes to SCOTX Petition Practice | Justice Evan Young | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
An Unexpected Path to the Appellate Bench | Justice Rebeca Huddle | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Texas Supreme Court Draws Line on Attorney Immunity Privilege
Handling the Texas Supreme Court’s Public Information | Osler McCarthy | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Paths to Texas Judicial Selection Reform | Chief Justice Tom Phillips | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
A roofing contractor called Stonewater Roofing, Ltd. (Stonewater) challenged a Texas statute regulating public adjusters' conduct on the basis that the statute violates free speech and due process rights under the First and...more
A recent Texas Supreme Court decision in a class action caught my eye because it addressed several significant class certification issues, including one that I’ve seen regularly and another that the court analyzed in a new...more
In In re Illinois National Insurance Co., the Texas Supreme Court held that disclaiming insurers were not bound by any underlying settlement agreement, entered into without the insurers’ consent, where the claimants promised...more
Delaware Supreme Court concludes that a letter from a lawyer informing an insured of possible lawsuits without identifying potential plaintiffs or demanding payment is not a “claim for damages” within the meaning of...more
When an insurer pays the full amount of an appraisal award plus statutory interest, the insured is precluded from recovering attorney’s fees under Chapter 542A of the Texas Insurance Code, according to a recent decision from...more
The Supreme Court of Texas has issued its much-anticipated opinion on an open attorney’s fees question in the area of First Party Property appraisals....more
A previous update analyzed the critical case of Monroe Guaranty Ins. Co. v. Bitco Gen. Ins. Corp., where the Texas Supreme Court recognized an exception to Texas’s “eight corners rule” but found the exception inapplicable to...more
The Texas Supreme Court reinforced common law precedent that insurers cannot avoid liability under an insurance policy based on a misrepresentation in an insurance application unless the insurer can establish that the insured...more
It is an all-too-common scenario for insurance practitioners. Company A hires an independent contractor to perform work on its premises. Their agreement specifies that Contractor will procure liability insurance—often...more
While not often in the limelight, standard business practice relies on service contracts and, in turn, risk transfer through those contracts. Critical issues can arise regarding whether a party seeking additional insured...more
Additional insured disputes can sometimes get complicated. How much coverage the additional insured gets is often a hotly contested issue, especially when the named insured has coverage above the minimum limits it promised...more
Primary and excess insurance carriers and their counsel need to pay close attention to a new Texas Supreme Court case Exxon Mobil vs. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Starr Indemnity &...more
For Presentation at the 20th Annual Advanced Insurance Law Course, June 1-2, 2023, Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, Texas - No Texas insurance practitioner disputes that an insured may only recover for...more
Last year, the Texas Supreme Court adopted a narrow exception to the state’s eight-corners rule, and allowed the consideration of extrinsic evidence to determine the duty to defend. The exception arguably raised more...more
Ever since the Texas Supreme Court changed the landscape of Texas law regarding appraisal in Barbara Technologies Corp. v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 806 (Tex. 2019) and Ortiz v. State Farm Lloyds, 589 S.W.3d 127 (Tex....more
In Elephant Insurance Co., LLC v. Kenyon, the Supreme Court of Texas reiterated the framework of an insurer’s common-law duties to insureds under Texas law. In applying that framework to the facts of the case, the Court...more
You’ll find some notable decisions in our May Insurance Update. Appeals over pandemic-related business interruption losses have made their way up to state high courts. And so far, these courts have continued the trend...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently applied the newly adopted Texas Supreme Court decision outlining those circumstances in which extrinsic evidence may be used to determine an insurer's duty to defend...more
In a pair of opinions issued last month, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Texas businesses’ COVID-19 related income loss was not covered by standard business income and extra expense (“BI/EE”) endorsement in...more
Welcome to CICR’s annual recap of insurance cases you should know about — and others in the pipeline to watch. You can read about our selections for “Cases to Know” and “Cases to Watch” below. In the last year, we saw...more
In 2019, the Supreme Court of Texas issued a pair of decisions that allowed policyholders to prosecute claims under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (“TPPCA”) even after the insurers paid appraisal awards. The decisions...more
Just a few short years ago, there was a bright line rule under Texas law concerning appraisal awards. If an insurer timely paid an appraisal award, that payment extinguished all of the insurer’s contractual and...more
The Texas Supreme Court recently increased policyholders’ influence over an insurer’s right to settle a third-party claim for less than policy limits. Insurers have long enjoyed a nearly absolute right to settle claims, even...more
In Hinojos v. State Farm Lloyds, the Supreme Court of Texas addressed liability under the Texas Prompt Payment of Claims Act (the “TPPCA”) when an insurer timely pays only part of a claim....more
Litigation usually involves complex issues related to technology, products, or business processes. In many cases, clients are the best subject-matter experts of their craft....more